Determinants of the Adoption of Sustainable Intensification in Southern African Farming Systems: A Meta-Analysis

Qian Guo, Oreoluwa Ola and Emmanuel Benjamin
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Qian Guo: Department of Governance in International Agribusiness and Department of Agricultural Production and Resource Economics, Technical University of Munich (TUM), 85354 Freising, Germany
Oreoluwa Ola: Department of Governance in International Agribusiness and Department of Agricultural Production and Resource Economics, Technical University of Munich (TUM), 85354 Freising, Germany

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 8, 1-13

Abstract: Climate change and environmental degradation are major threats to sustainable agricultural development in Southern Africa. Thus, the concept of sustainable intensification (SI) has become an important topic among researchers and policymakers in the region over the last three decades. SI involves getting more output from less input using practices such as agroforestry, organic fertilizer, sustainable water management, among others. A comprehensive review of the literature on adoption of SI in the region identified nine relevant drivers of adoption of SI among (smallholder) farmers. These drivers include (i) age, (ii) size of arable land, (iii) education, (iv) extension services, (v) gender, (vi) household size, (vii) income, (viii) membership in a farming organization and (ix) access to credit. We present the results of a meta-analysis of 21 papers on the impact of these determinants on SI adoption among (smallholder) farmers in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) using random-effects estimation techniques for the true effect size. While our results suggest that variables such as extension services, education, age, and household size may influence the adoption of SI in SADC, factors such as access to credit are also of great importance. Decision-makers should, therefore, concentrate efforts on these factors in promoting SI across the SADC. This includes increasing the efficiency of public extension service, as well as the involvement of the private sector in extension services. Furthermore, both public and private agriculture financing models should consider sustainability indicators in their assessment process.

Keywords: climate change; sustainable intensification (SI); adoption; smallholder; meta-analysis; random-effect model; effect size; Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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